Marcel Sauder

Department history

Marcel Sauder, born 1965, has been interested in martial arts since he was a child. At age 13 he wants to start practicing. He gathers information regarding judo, karate, and Shaolin kung fu, and finally settles for Yong Chun to which he stayed true to this day. The directness, clarity, and efficiency of this style have been fascinating him. Marcel wants to know more about Yong Chun, and so, after completing his apprenticeship, he seizes his chance and travels to Taiwan to learn directly at the source from Master Lo Man Kam.

After a few years he returns to Switzerland, but he does not succeed in joining the local martial arts schools. So he starts a small training group to have at least the opportunity to practice every week. He keeps traveling to Taiwan for several weeks every year where he deepens his skills, and from where he could take home new knowledge. During this time Marcel also learns Chinese (Mandarin) which enables him to access kung fu as well as the Chinese culture and mentality in a totally different and much more direct way.

He starts to become increasingly interested in the history and development of Yong Chun. He doesn’t only ask his masters but also listens to many famous kung-fu masters which he encounters during his travels to Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, and Thailand. He diligently keeps notes to collect the knowledge. The impressions and information start to come together like pieces of a puzzle. By discussing with sinologists who specialize in Chinese history it is possible for Marcel Sauder to separate the probable from the improbable. In the year 2005 he gets to know Master He Shanfa in Taiwan whose old books and tales about Yong Chun add even more clarity. In the end a quite comprehensive history about the roots of today’s Yong Chun emerges.

 

Since 1999 Marcel Sauder heads the WU LIN martial arts school in Frauenfeld where he loves to part his knowledge, his experience, and his understanding for both cultures with his students.

 

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